CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The automobile will certainly not be the star this summer time within the Famous person Racing Expertise, which has been formatted for drivers to showcase their expertise utilizing what collection co-founder Ray Evernham calls “old-school instruments.”

The nice previous steering wheel, gasoline pedal and brake pedal.

“With this format, you not solely must be the quickest driver, however you have to be the neatest driver too,” stated Tony Stewart, who co-founded SRX and can drive one of many vehicles this summer time.

SRX disclosed the format it’ll use Thursday to The Related Press when the all-star collection launches this summer time at Stafford Motor Speedway in Connecticut on June 12 for the primary of six Saturday night time short-track races throughout the nation.

Every occasion will encompass two timed 15-minute warmth races adopted by a 100-lap function at each observe besides Slinger Speedway in Wisconsin, the place the occasion will likely be prolonged by 50 laps as a result of the observe is just a quarter-mile oval.

The primary warmth will likely be lined up by a random draw, and the second warmth will likely be set by inverting the ending order from the primary warmth. The beginning lineup for the function will likely be set by the ending order of the second warmth.

There will likely be limitless makes an attempt at a green-white-checkered end to finish the race. There are a most 12 factors to earn in every warmth, and the race winner receives 25 factors.

“It was crucial to provide you with a format that would supply the perfect leisure to our followers whereas rewarding the drivers for his or her efficiency. This format will try this,” Evernham stated. “Each driver has the identical alternative. They’re in a automobile that is very completely different as a result of it is so common. It is a road-course automobile first, a fairly good dust automobile and simply an OK paved oval automobile.”

Evernham and Stewart modeled the collection after the favored however defunct Worldwide Race of Champions that pitted drivers from a number of formulation in identically ready vehicles at varied tracks for 30 years. Stewart gained its ultimate championship in 2006, and there hasn’t been a collection prefer it since.

Evernham and Stewart, each members of the NASCAR Corridor of Fame, believed there was nonetheless an curiosity for a collection that featured vehicles that do not depend on aerodynamics and reward mechanical grip and driver talent. Stewart additionally thought he might discover drivers who had stepped away from full-time racing however nonetheless wished to sometimes compete.

He recruited 9 different full-time drivers, together with NASCAR Corridor of Famers Invoice Elliott and Bobby Labonte, Indianapolis 500 winners Helio Castroneves and Tony Kanaan, Daytona 500 winner Michael Waltrip, and Marco Andretti, the pole-sitter for final 12 months’s Indy 500. Native all-stars will be a part of the SRX regulars on the first 5 races.

The collection will air dwell on CBS and race at among the most prolific quick tracks within the nation, together with Knoxville Raceway in Iowa — which calls itself “The Dash Automobile Capital of the World” — the Stewart-owned Eldora Speedway in Ohio and Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis.

“That is going to be a problem. These are new, purpose-built race vehicles that none of us have pushed earlier than,” Stewart stated. “Each observe is so completely different, and we do not know the way abrasive the pavement tracks are going to be and what sort of grip we’ll have on the dust tracks. Even for the native all-stars who’ve turned hundreds of laps at their explicit observe, they will be doing it in a very completely different atmosphere.”